The rumors are running rampant that San Francisco's 102-year-old House of Shields Saloonin the Financial District (39 New Montgomery St.) might be closing, but the Inside Scoop hears a slightly different story.

The whispers are that chef Dennis Leary, whose Sentinel sandwich shop is in the same building, is in negotiations with the landlord to take over the old bar. Yet it seems that Leary, who also owns San Francisco's Canteen (817 Sutter St.), has no plans to close the House of Shields - in fact, just the opposite. Sources tell Scoop that Leary wants to restore the city institution to its former glory, which means keeping it pretty much the same with just a little sprucing up.

He certainly has no intention of turning the place into a "yuppie Marina hangout," say our spies.

The House of Shields' turn-of-the-20th-century ambience - the basement was once a speakeasy - and its signature wooden bar have been so entrenched in San Francisco lore that it's difficult to imagine it being anything other than what it is.

Out to the ball game: Momo's Peter Osborne may be looking to expand his restaurant portfolio near San Francisco's AT&T Park (for all you nonsports fans, that's where the Giants play). He says he's eyeballing a space between Second and Third streets, adjacent to his other restaurant, Pete's Tavern (128 King St.). "It's a beautiful brick and timber building," he says, which is vacant and has never been used for a restaurant.

Osborne and the landlord are in conversation, but no deal has been sealed. At this point, he says, it's still in the fantasy phase.

But if Osborne has his wish: "I'd love to see Pete's have a twin brother named Pedro's Cantina."

Can it be that he wants to give Mejita, the ballpark's forthcoming Mexican remake of Acme Chop House, a run for its money? Sounds like a lot of potential for renovation of the whole area. We shall see.

London opened the all-vegetable restaurant with Fox more than two years ago and rose to chef de cuisine. Before Ubuntu, he worked at Blue Hill at Stone Barns and Daniel in New York and L'Astrance in Paris.

Remodel: The folks at Saison are planning to upgrade their San Francisco restaurant (2124 Folsom St.) with an overhaul, which includes a Molteni stove and new chairs and tables for the dining room. They're also putting in an herb and vegetable garden and sprucing up the patio. Chef Joshua Skenes says the remodel should take about a week and expects to close the second week of April and reopen by April 18.

Local changes: The new manager of Local Kitchen & Wine Merchant has big plans for the San Francisco restaurant (330 First St.). Franz Meis, formerly of Trademark (56 Belden Place), started last week, and his goal is to make Local a go-to place for takeout and neighborhood delivery. He says new chef James Murray, formerly of sister restaurant Oola, plans to beef up the dinner selection with more pizzas, rotisserie items and pasta dishes, and make lunch service faster, with more portable entrees.

Other changes: Pat Kuleto's Nick's Cove on Tomales Bay (23240 Highway 1, Marshall) has redone the menu and concept a bit, heading more toward small plates and cutting the number (and, supposedly, prices) of entrees. From what we're hearing, this might be a preview of what's to come at a couple of Kuleto's other properties - Farallon in San Francisco (450 Post St.) and Martini Housein St. Helena (1245 Spring St.).

See Michael Bauer's Between Meals blog today on SFGate.com for more about Nick's Cove.